


In which Steve is a little too self-sacrificial and nearly scares Clint to death

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Exhaustion, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Steve Rogers, I feel like there aren't enough clint & steve fics, I know, Not Beta read whoops lol, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers whump, aliens but I was too lazy to describe them, but its important to me, have this steaming pile of shite, i couldn't sleep until i wrote this, its definitely more whump than angst, kind of, not important to the fic at all, please be kind, please give me ideas im as creative as a slab of rock, so here you go, steve needs to learn to speak up, you don't have to tell me how good the title is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 20:13:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18630481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The fight was way longer than they anticipated. Good thing they have a breaking system, so everyone gets a break every 12 hours, right? Except Steve somehow manages to miss every single one of his breaks.Extract:“Whoa, no, Tony it’s- it’s ok, if Rhodey’s hurt then he needs to be priority, I can last.” Steve fought against himself to say, fought against the ache in his bones and the desperate cry for rest in his head, fought against the feeling of emptiness, having had barely more than an energy bar every 12 hours or so, and against the pain in his side from the punch that had sent him into the stone wall in the first place. He was also fairly certain his ribs hadn’t healed as quickly as hey should have done, but he couldn’t let himself bring Rhodey back when he could be injured.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Just thought I'd let you know that in this fic, Steve is early 20's (like I'm talking 21, 22ish). Also, I'm pretty sure the tenses and pov's are probably a bit confusing, so let me know if it doesn't make a lot of sense.  
> Originally I was planning a lot more Nat & Steve interactions, but when I started writing that just didn't happen lol. Let me know if you want a second chapter with more of those two, because I love their bromance haha.

If he was being honest, Steve really wasn’t sure what was going on. One minute he was asleep in his apartment, the next he was stood in the middle of a giant field in the pouring rain, soaked in mud from the knees down fighting- well, God knows what they were, but he didn’t care, he just knew that they weren’t from earth and were trying to hurt people.

They had been fighting for 5 days and 6 nights straight now. It was coming up to 115 hours. 115 hours of constant Fighting. At least, constant fighting for Steve Rogers. Tony, Nat, Clint and Rhodey? They got a break everyday. They staggered it so that every 12 hours they took a 3 hour break for food, drink and sleep, before returning to the field and letting another person take a break.

Nat took a 3 hour break, returned to the fight, Clint took a 3 hour break, returned to the fight, Tony took a 3 hour break, returned to the fight, Steve took a 3 hour break, returned to the fight, Rhodey took a 3 hour break, returned to the fight, and then it was Nat again. The system was sound, smooth, perfect. Except Steve never seemed to get one. 

At first, he simply didn’t notice, his enhanced body and mind able to last far longer without a break. And neither did anyone else, apparently, because no one mentioned it. Finally, on the second day, however, Steve started to slow down.

“Who’s on break now?” he asked into the comms.

“Rhodey, he went out about an hour and a half ago.” Tony replied. Steve frowned. That meant they had skipped over him completely. Clearly, for the past few days he’d been cut out the cycle, and no one had noticed.

He figured it was his fault. He should be keeping track of when it was his turn. He did a quick self-assessment, and decided he could wait until it was his turn. After all, he didn’t need as many breaks as the normal person, and he was the only enhanced person on the field. He’d be fine.

\-------------

He was not fine. Another day had passed, and he’d missed his break again, distracted by a bystander who needed medical assistance. Now, the stupid things had him surrounded, had swarmed out of nowhere and he could barely land a hit. He tried to reach people through the comms, but he was breathing too hard to make a coherent sentence. At least 3 were coming at him at all times, and at least 2 were hitting him at all times. Luckily, his harsh breathing and half finished words got the general message along, and Clint rained down a storm of arrows on them.

“Thanks man.” Steve wheezed, desperately trying to catch his breath.

“No problem, Cap’n!” Clint mock saluted before rushing back into the battle.

Steve took a deep breath, and groaned when his ribs protested, at least two were broken, and 4 were definitely bruised. He hated to admit defeat, but he wasn’t sure how much help he would be when just breathing hurt. Not to mention the whole ‘I can barely keep my eyes open’ thing.

“Hey- uh- guys? Can, can I take my break a little early? I’m pretty sure my ribs are busted.” The comms were silent for a couple seconds, then Rhodey answered.

“Can you last another hour?” Cap almost pointed out that his bruised ribs would be healed by then, and his broken ones reduced to bruised, but Rhodey wasn’t done. “It’s Tony’s break right now and he got sliced pretty bad earlier. He got stitched up and he kind of needs all the rest he can get.”

Steve frowned, a blurry memory of Tony getting one of the alien's claws dragged across his shoulder. His break was only an hour away, and obviously Tony needed it more. But there was this tiny voice in his mind telling him that it if he wanted to help he had to take a break. His punches were sluggish and his vision was swimming. He almost said this, but immediately stopped himself. What was he thinking? Tony was injured and didn’t have an enhanced healing factor. He would be fine for another hour. He had to be.

“Y-yeah that’s ok. I can wait.”

\-------------

A half hour later and Steve was sent crashing into a stone wall. He felt something in the side of his head crack, and for a second he thought he’d broken his ear or something, but when he reached up, he felt his comm, cracked in half in his ear. Pulling it out, he assessed the damaged and was relieved to see it was easy to fix. 

“Hey, do you guys- can you hear me?” he called into the comm. There was no reply, and Steve sighed, setting out to find somewhere safe to fix it.

Tony and Bruce had taught him a fair amount about technology and engineering, and he turned out to be fairly good at it. He was better than the average person, but a fair way off of Tony, and even Peter. But long story short, fixing the comm would’ve been easy under normal circumstances. Normal circumstances being safe in the lab with all the tools and supplies he needed, after a good nights sleep and at least one meal in the past 4 days. As it was he was in basically the opposite situation, unsafe, unrested, unfed, and no equipment.

Ducking behind a crumbling wall, he sat down and began to fiddle with the wires. He couldn’t help but bitterly think how much easier it would be if his hands weren’t shaking so damn much, and his vision wasn’t fuzzy and wobbly. In just over the time it would have take him to make a comm from scratch in the lab, he had finished fixing the broken one. 

“He guys, is- is this thing on, working?” He rasped, wincing at how tired he sounded.

“Cap! Man I was starting to worry about you!” Clint replied, relief evident in his voice.

“Steve, glad to hear from you, you’ve been silent for over an hour.” Nat smiled.

“An hour?” he asked weakly, dread settling into his stomach. He’d missed his break. Again.

“Yeah,” Tony answered, then paused before continuing. “You doing ok bud?”

“I’m tired.” The admission came rushing out in a sigh, and he hated how young it made him sound, how much like an annoying child he sounded, but _God_ he was so tired.

“Oh shit, yeah, this was your break, wasn’t it? We can get Rhodey back out on the field if you want- he’s just gone to get his wrist checked out, something about a sprain, but I’m sure he’d be happy to come back out in a sec.” Tony rambled, but it snapped Steve back to reality, and he felt the need for a break slip to the back of his mind.

“Whoa, no, Tony it’s- it’s ok, if Rhodey’s hurt then he needs to be priority, I can last.” Steve fought against himself to say, fought against the ache in his bones and the desperate cry for rest in his head, fought against the feeling of emptiness, having had barely more than an energy bar every 12 hours or so, and against the pain in his side from the punch that had sent him into the stone wall in the first place. He was also fairly certain his ribs hadn’t healed as quickly as hey should have done, but he couldn’t let himself bring Rhodey back when he could be injured.

“Are you sure? Thats another 12 hours until you get a break.” Nat said, sounding unconvinced. In all honesty, Steve had meant until after Rhodey was done, not until it was his actual next turn, but obviously that hadn’t been clear, and he worried he’d sound too selfish if he corrected her. So he swallowed the lump in his throat, pushed through the wave of dizziness and said:

“Yeah, of course.”

He regretted it the moment it passed his lips.

\-------------

It was 117 hours after the fight had started before Steve had to give in. Nat had been injured 11 hours after Steve had missed his 8th break, and had been rushed back to the base camp where they took their breaks. Tony had been forced back into the field an hour early so that Nat could get medical treatment, and Steve had wanted to cry. 

Less than an hour until he finally, _finally_ got a break, and it had been ripped out of his hands. No one could take breaks anymore, they needed at least 4 people on the ground fighting. 10 hours after the out-ruling of breaks and Steve new he couldn’t do it anymore.

Nausea was rolling in the pit of his stomach and dizziness coated his every movement. His eyes were barely open and his vision kept clouding, prompting him to blink, and he was vaguely aware that each blink was getting longer. His stomach, despite the nausea, was growling, and his head was pounding. He was pretty much useless in the fight at this point, punches slow and uncoordinated and his defence getting weaker with each minute that passed. At the back of his mind he knew that there couldn’t be more than a half hour left of the fight, knew that he was so, so close to the finish, and yet he found himself calling the team.

“G-guys? I don’t…I think I need help.”

Silence, then:

“Cap?” It was Tony, and he sounded concerned, but Steve didn’t really know why. He waited for someone to answer Tony, before he realised he was talking to him. Huh, it was funny how that had just slipped his mind, he’d completely forgotten that he’d even started the conversation. What did Tony want again?

“What?”

“Are you…okay? You sound kind of, I don’t know, spacey?”

Cap couldn’t find words to answer, the nausea and dizziness suddenly rising, and it was all he could do to stay standing.

“Cap?” That was Rhodey, Steve was pretty sure.

“Damn it, has anyone got eyes on Cap?” Rhodey shouted, and Steve winced, pulling the comm out of his ear and throwing it to the ground. His vision was tunnelling and swimming and his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.

Still feeling completely out of it, he was aware of something gripping his arm, instincts taking over as he swung at them. 

\-------------

Clint was starting to panic. The fight was going on far too long and he wasn’t as focussed on it as perhaps he should’ve been. Nat had been rushed to base camp for medical treatment, and Clint didn’t even know what was wrong, just that she was hurt and they all had to stay out on the field. 

But the fight was almost over, and then they could all go back home and sleep. Clint couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to sleep for more than 3 hours now. He had been trained to fight on little to no sleep, but after 5 days of barely any sleep he knew his punches were getting sloppier.

Sighing, he glanced around to try and find some high ground. The enemies' army was wearing thin now, and he was probably good to pick them off from a distance now. Notching a grappling hook arrow, he pulled himself up to the roof of a barn in the middle of the field, and got into position, beginning to shoot at the alien things that had broken off from the main fight.

Then his comm crackled to life for the first time in what was probably hours after they had fallen silent in concentration and exhaustion.

“G-guys? I don’t…I think I need help.”

That was Steve, but he didn’t sound good. His voice was shaky and raw, like he hadn’t spoken in years, and Clint had only heard Steve sound so young once before in that fight in Hawaii. Trying not to freak out too much he tried to spot Steve on the field, but he couldn’t find him.

“Cap?” Tony was clearly trying for nonchalance, but was failing miserably, unable to hide the concern in his voice. The comms were silent for a solid minute, and Clint felt his alarm rise with every second that passed.

“What?” Steve finally answered, sounding just as confused as they felt.

Tony let out a rush of relieved air, before asking “Are you…okay? You sound kind of, I don’t know, spacey?”

They were, again, met with radio silence, and Rhodey attempted to prompt Steve to speak again to no avail.

“Damn it, has anyone got eyes on Cap?” Rhodey shouted, and Clint scanned the field another time, eyes coming to rest on a figure off to the right, standing still and staring into the distance, swaying slightly.

“I see him! I got him!” Clint yelled as he climbed down off the roof and sprinted towards him. He was somewhat aware of Rhodey and Tony shouting in his ear to see what was going on, but he ignored them.

“Cap? Hey, Steve, did you get hit? Are you ok?” Clint asked gently, reaching out and touching his forearm. Immediately, Steve’s arm shot out and punched him square in the face. He yelped in shock, staggering back and dropping Steve’s arm, bringing his hand up to his nose. The punch was far weaker than it should have been, bearing in mind his super strength, but it was strong enough to sting, and make Clint’s eyes water.

“Steve?”

Steve stared blankly at him, not quite registering what he said. Then, his brow furrowed and he croaked out “Clint?”

“Steve,” Clint laughed a little in relief, “Are you feeling ok?”

A second passed, and then Steve’s eyes seemed to clear a bit, as the dizziness lessened somewhat.

“Huh? Clint? What’s going on?”

“Oh thank God,” Clint grinned, “Thought you were gonna pass out or somethin’”

“I might.” Steve admitted, swaying on his feet.

“What’s going on, did you get hit in the head?”

“No, I’m just.” Steve paused, cheeks heating up a little, and Clint thought he might be embarrassed. “I’m really tired Clint.” His voice was tiny, and Clint was reminded again of how young Steve was.

“What? Did he say he was tired?” Tony asked through his comm. Clint ignored him.

“Dude, when was your last break?”

Steve blinked. “I didn’t get one?” 

Clint frowned in confusion. “Oh, do you mean since Nat left? I know its been a while since then, but I mean when was your last break before Nat was pulled off the mission.”

“Yeah, I- I haven’t had a break.”

“Since when though?” Clint felt the dread in the pit of his stomach build, sensing he wouldn’t like the answer.

“…Since…the start?” 

Clint was right, he definitely didn’t like the answer.

“Steve. That better be a joke.”

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” Steve muttered, knees buckling and his eyes rolling up into his head.

“Ah, shit.”

\-------------

They had been walking for about 15 minutes when Clint felt Steve shift in his arms. Glancing down, he smiled as Steve blinked his eyes open.

“What?” Steve mumbled against his chest, and Clint stopped walking, setting Steve down on the floor, leaning against the trunk of a tree. 

“Hey sleepyhead.” He grinned. 

“He’s awake?” Rhodey asked through the comm. Tony and Rhodey were finishing up with the- well, whatever they were fighting- while Clint was tasked with taking Steve back to base camp.

“Yeah, no he’s awake, he looks oka- hey, Steve, cut that out.” Steve was shifting, trying to sit up straighter, wincing as it pulled on his ribs. Clint wrapped one arm round his back, and held his right arm with the other, and sat him up a little straighter. Steve’s eyes cleared as he looked around, eyes settling on Clint.

“Where are we? How did- Oh god did you carry me?” 

Clint laughed, watching as Steve’s cheeks turned red and he buried his face in his hands. “Well, it’s not like you could get up and walk, is it?”

Steve dropped his head back against the tree, shutting his eyes.

“Hey, no, Steve, you gotta keep your eyes open. C’mon, let me see those baby blues.” Clint poked him in the side. Steve cracked his eyes open, sending a half hearted glare at Clint, who simply smiled back. “We’re about 10 minutes from base camp. You think you can walk it?”

If Steve was being honest with himself? No. No he wasn’t convinced he could walk it, but his only other option was Clint carrying him. Which is why he found himself forcing himself to his feet. He gratefully accepted Clint’s arm around his back for support, and they started walking.

“Hey, where’d your comm go?” Clint asked, after a minute of silence,

“What? Isn’t it in my ear?” Steve’s face twisted in confusion.

Clint frowned too, before addressing Tony. “Hey, Tony, is Cap’s comm online?”

“Yeah, looks like it to me.” He answered a second later.

“Can you track it? We don’t have it anymore.”

“Uh, sure, I guess.” A beat later, Tony continued. “Looks like its in the middle if the field. I’ll grab it now, we’re just about done here so I can come and meet you guys.”

“Yeah, I’m just grabbing a few strays, then I’ll meet you at base.” Rhodey agreed.

“Clint?” Steve mumbled, voice tiny. “I think ‘m gonna pass out.” His words were slurred and unclear, and then he was slumping against Clint. At that moment, Tony landed next to them.

“Here,” he said, reaching out, “I’ll take him back, I’ll get there quicker.” Clint handed Steve over to Tony, glancing one last time at Steve's pale face, sending a quick prayer up to whatever God was listening, then watched as they disappeared into the distance, before jogging, hoping to get there and check on both Nat and Steve.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys! Thank you so so much for the kind comments on the last chapter, which inspired me to write this!  
> I think it's important say I see Nat and Clint as having an older sibling/younger sibling relationship with Steve, and Tony having an almost father/son relationship, while still being friends.  
> I wish Rhodey was more involved in this chapter, but I wasn't entirely sure how to write there relationship.  
> The characters may seem a little ooc, but consider they're real tired and have just finished a mission.  
> I hope you enjoy x

Tony was somewhat shocked at the amount of rage he felt when Steve opened his eyes. He’d been expecting relief- and don’t get him wrong, he was definitely relieved- but he hadn’t been expecting the amount of anger that suddenly hit him full force like a slap to the face.

He had just walked through the front door (or the equivalent of one relative to a tent), Steve in his arms bridal-style, and he’d felt him begin to shift. Hurrying, he reached a bed and placed him down in it before his eyes opened properly.

He tossed and turned for a couple of minutes in the bed before he finally blinked his eyes open. Tony was prepared to hug him, make some sarcastic comment about sleeping beauty or something, so the pure rage that ran through his veins when Steve’s eyes finally found his caught him completely by surprise. He assumed that was why he responded why he did; he didn’t have time to stop himself.

“What the hell, Rogers?” he hissed, eyes narrow and glaring.

Steve’s eyes widened, and then his brow furrowed in confusion, his face contorting into what seemed to be about 5 expressions at once. Tony immediately felt guilty.

“Sorry, that- that wasn’t fair, I didn’t mean,” he paused, scrubbing a hand down his face “Sorry. Let me start again. Hey Steve, how’re you feeling?”

Steve stared at him blankly for a second. “What?”

Tony chuckled, running a hand through his, a nervous habit. “I _said_ , how’re you feeling.”

I’m- did I miss something? I swear you were angry, like 10 seconds ago? Are- are you mad?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. But that’s gotta wait until you’re feeling 100%. So for now, are you ok?

“I’m fine.”

“Ok, I’ll try again, this time you’re actually going to answer truthfully, yeah? Are you ok?”

Steve set his jaw and looked Tony straight in the eye. “I’m fine.”

Tony simply raised an eyebrow, giving Steve his patented Tony-Stark-Doesn’t-Believe-A-Single-Word-You-Just-Said glare. “Mmhm.”

“I am!”

“…except?”

Steve sighed. “Except my head is killing and I’m super dizzy. And tired.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet kiddo.” Steve frowned at the nickname, but Tony ignored him. “Going 117 hours without any rest tends to do that to you. Why didn’t you say something, Steve? Why didn’t you just-” He cut himself off, realising his tone had gotten angrier again. “Why didn’t you just _speak up_ Steve?” He finished, voice giving away how tired he was.

__“I-I don’t know. I wanted too- really, I did!” He rushed too add when Tony looked unconvinced. “I wanted too so, _so _bad, but…but there was never a good time. Someone else always needed it more, like Rhodey, when he hurt his wrist, or Nat, near the end, or, uh…”___ _

____Tony felt his stomach drop. “Or me.”_ _ _ _

____“That’s not what I meant, Tony-“_ _ _ _

____“Oh God, when- when I hurt my shoulder, I remember now, I heard it on the comms but I ignored it, didn’t think anything of it, God, Cap I-I’m sorry man.” The sudden guilt on his shoulders was almost unbearable. The gash on his shoulder hadn’t even been deep, it had been stitched up in a matter of minutes and then he’d been good to go, but Rhodey convinced him to take his full 3 hours out. He _knew_ Steve wanted a break, but he took his anyway. “I should’ve come back to the field, let you take your break, _God_ , I was so selfish-”____

________“Hey, Tony, no that’s not- I didn’t- you weren’t being selfish, you needed the break, you were injured, and I was fine at that point! None of this is your fault, I swear! And- and I wouldn’t change what happened today. You’re all way better off for it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________That didn’t make Tony feel any better. In fact, it did the complete opposite, and he was just about to tell Steve as much when Clint beat him to it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Steve, if you think you being injured is better off for us, then clearly you don’t know us all that well.” Clint’s tone was icy, and Tony was pretty sure he was just covering up his worry, but glancing at Steve’s face he knew he had to intervene._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Clint-” he tried, but Clint just spoke over him, louder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“No. I’m not done. What the hell, Steve? Do you know how awful that was? I had no idea what was wrong with you, and you just passed out? _In the middle of a battlefield?_ Do you know how scared I was? And you’re not _sorry?_ I-” Clint’s voice grew louder with each sentence, and Tony realised he wasn’t going to stop, wasn’t aware of Steve flinching with every word, wasn’t even aware of what he was saying._____ _ _ _

____________“ _Clint!_ ” he yelled, and breathed a sigh of relief when Clint stopped, eyes snapping from Steve’s to Tony’s.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________A moment of silence passed, Clint’s heavy breathing being the only sound, before both Tony and Clint turned to look back at Steve._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________His head was turned, looking away from them and out the window, but the convulsive swallowing, and shaking hands told Clint all he needed to know. He was a spy after all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Tony watched as all the fight drained out of Clint’s tense form, before he spoke again, voice raw and shaky, after being forced to swallow his anger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Steve? Hey, look at me. Please. I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean to yell, I’m not really mad, not at you, at least. I promise.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________After what felt like an eternity, Steve turned to look at them. Tony’s breath caught in his throat, heart clenching as he met Steve’s eyes. They were watery and red, and he could tell he was fighting not to cry._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out.” He said in a small voice. Tony was still fighting against the shock of seeing the tears in Steve’s eyes (he never let the team see him weak, he always hid it until he was out of sight. Tony supposes that’s what made this so much worse. Steve was so tired and out of it that he was barely clamping down on his emotions, and it was so unlike him) that he was unable to answer, and was relieved that Clint managed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“It’s ok, man, I know.” He pulled Steve into a gentle hug, a small smile on his face. Tony rolled his eyes good-naturedly when Clint lifted his arm up as an invitation to join in, but didn’t protest when Steve pulled him in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Only about 30 seconds had passed before Tony realised Steve was asleep. He smirked and softly removed himself from the hug._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Hey, where’re you-” Tony held a finger to his lips, effectively getting Clint to shut up, before pointing to Steve, who’s head rested against Clint’s shoulder, eyes closed and breathing deeply. Clint grinned, carefully shifting Steve so that he was laying on his bed again. Wordlessly, Clint and Tony left the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________When Steve next woke up, Nat and Rhodey were sat in chairs next to his bed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Oh. Hey.” He smiled, sitting up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Hey man, you look better.” Rhodey grinned. Admittedly, he felt better. He ached way less, and his ribs had definitely healed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Yeah, I feel it. Sorry about the whole, you know,” he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sheepish “freaking out in the middle of a mission thing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Rhodey snorted, “Consider yourself forgiven.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Steve turned his attention to Nat, who smirked softly at him. “Honestly Steve, I step out for a couple hours and you manage to send the team into a panic and pass out twice in the space of 20 minutes.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Yeah, well, I gotta make a dramatic exit, right?” a moment of comfortable silence passed, before Steve spoke again “How are you, by the way. Last I heard you were in medical.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Oh, yeah, it was mostly superficial, nothing they should’ve kept me off the field for.” Steve’s smile faded. Nat might keep a tight lid on her emotions, but Steve liked to think he’d gotten pretty good at reading her. Yet again, he realised another of his teammates felt guilty over his inability to admit he needed something. Apparently Rhodey noticed too, because he quietly excused himself from the room, something about getting coffee._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Nat, you know this wasn’t your fault, right?” he asked gently._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“I tried to get them to let me back on the field.” Natasha’s way of saying no._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“This isn’t on you, Nat, it’s on me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“No, Steve, it’s on us. What kind of teammate forgets another? We completely skipped you during the breaks and _none of us noticed, Steve. _We aren’t exactly feeling great right now.” She laughed humourlessly.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Come on, you know I’m not mad. I don’t blame you at all.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Well I wish you would! Shout at us, ignore us, give us the silent treatment, tell the nurses not to let us visit you, blame us! Anything! At least then we could make it up to you! Right now, you trying to take all the blame? That’s worse. It’s so much worse because we can’t apologise to someone who wont accept it. I wish you’d just be angry.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Steve blinked at her, unsure what to say. “…sorry?”. She glared at him, and Steve figured that wasn’t right. “I, uh, I mean- get out of my room?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Nat couldn’t help but laugh. Those were the words she had wanted to hear, but the tone was completely off. “Yeah, thanks Steve.” She said, still laughing. Steve just grinned back at her, before putting his hand on hers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“But seriously, try not to feel too bad, yeah? I’m fine now, and that’s all that matters.” He gave a her a crooked smile, hoping it helped. Of course, he knew it wouldn’t. He’d been where she was now, and knew the guilt didn’t disappear just because someone told you to stop feeling guilty._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________As if reading his thoughts, Natasha answered quietly, “You know I can’t.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Humour me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Only if you humour me.”  
Smirking and rolling his eyes, he said, a smile still plastered on his face and in his voice “Natasha, how could you. I can’t believe you.”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Wow, Steve.” Nat replied dryly, “You should become an actor.” They continued to stare at each other, seeing who could last longest. Of course, Steve cracked first, breaking into quiet chuckles, followed soon by Nat. Their laughter was slightly hysterical perhaps, both having been through a fairly stressful mission, and both running on not enough sleep, but they figured laughing hysterically had to be better than crying hysterically._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment prompts for future fics, I would love to hear your ideas! x

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about this tbh. It wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be, but also, I don't completely hate it. Feel free to comment prompts and stuff because I would love to write for you guys. I'm open to basically any ideas. I'm not great at ship fics but if you really want one I guess I could give it a try! Also, I realised after I posted this that my break system didn't add up to twelve because (ironically) I forgot steve lol, but lets just pretend haha.
> 
> Also, if you can think of a good alien species with description and stuff I can definitely add it into the story, but I'm awful at that kind of stuff lmao.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed xx.


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